THISTLE WHISTLE

 

Wow, where to start tonight? This past weekend surpassed any expectations I could've dreamed during the final weeks leading up to the race. It is simply amazing the highs and lows, ups and downs, and the emotional roller coaster you encounter during 30 hours of continuous running (28.5 actually). There are so many feelings to try and convey in this post, that I'm sure I will leave some out. I'm hoping I can recall every quirky moment from a blur of a weekend.

Post race brotherly beers

The weekend kicked off with a nice lasagna dinner at our teammate John's parents' house just outside of Columbia. I arrived around 7:30 to a gaggle of cars already parked in the driveway...some I recognized, some I didn't. I didn't think anything of it, as we had a guy named Mark running with us that I had never met before. So I walk in the front door greeted by about five of the guys, daps and hugs all around. I make my way around the room, grateful to see everyone, when something catches my eye and causes a double take. My brother, Jeremy, speaks up, "what's up brother?" At this point, I'm speechless. Literally. There's a video out there of me saying "wow" about 18 times. Not only was I in shock that he was there, but it took me about five minutes to figure out he was running with us and was not just a spectator. "Mark". Right. Mark was a fictitious character all along, and everyone was in on it. It kind of makes sense though...Mark was an "ultramarathoner". Now Jer is no ultra runner but he's no slouch. A Boston Marathon highlights his resume.  This was by far the best part of the weekend. Jeremy and I never get to run together because of living 2,000 miles apart, so it meant to the world to me to know that I would be sharing this experience with him. I was truly blessed with not only a great brother, but a best friend and role model.

If you're not first, you're last

So we start out from the house around 7:30 am for our 9:00 start. I was rather nervous and had to make a couple pit stops to get my stomach to stop turning. I guess in the back of my mind, I was worried that I wouldn't perform...I would let the team down...I don't know, but my emotions were all over the place at this point. But we all settled in to watch Stew take off on leg 1 of 36...a 5.5 mile run through rolling hills that would end at a boat landing where I would start my journey. Stew killed his first run, besting his predicted time by about six minutes. With that, I took off on my first of three legs...a "scenic" route of six miles, winding along a dirt road, through an industrial park, and finishing at a BP gas station. I started out strong, feeling pretty good about three and a half miles in...then it hit, the inevitable "what am I doing?" feeling. I stopped for a minute to stretch, popped a GU energy chewable and went on my way. At this point, a girl from a trailing team passed me...precisely what I needed. I chased her the remainder of the leg, finishing out at a solid 9:41 pace...under my goal of 9:45 for the entire race. It's at this point that our stars take over the race and begin to set a tone that would last us for the next 26 hours. Coker tackled leg 3, the first of the legs labeled as "hard". It was 10 miles, with a couple violent hills. As we passed him in the van, we quickly realized that this would be one of many legs where we could make up time on the other teams that started with us. Coker was a little disappointed by not cracking a 7:00 pace, but he turned in a stellar run to kick start the rest of the team.

Now, I realized I can't talk about every leg. So I'm going to start skipping around, highlighting the important parts of the race.

The following legs included Clark pounding out 2.6 miles with a stiff hill at the end, Brad toughing out 6+ miles with a rolled ankle, and John absolutely smoking one of the toughest legs on the course. We were in good shape at this point as we grew a 20 minute buffer from our target time. Joe banged out a short run FAST, then passed to Chris for a very telling 5.5 mile run. At the exchange point, other vans were asking what team the "huge, fast guy" was on. He was ours, and he set up Jer for another opportunity to best our target pace. Fast forward as Jer gets his first leg in, Wofford owns a long, hot 10 mile run through the country, and Nate outlasts a beast female runner who was charging. At this point, we're roughly 70 miles in with everyone completing at least one leg...so we're starting to understand where we're at both mentally and physically. FEELING GOOD.

Here's where my second leg occurs...a 5.5 mile trek through a couple towns on a relatively flat road. Started out strong, but quickly faded. I found myself  digging awfully deep around mile four, reaching for a GU to give me a kick of energy to finish out the leg. The sun was setting fast, and I was suddenly running under the light of my headlamp. A unique experience for sure. Thankfully there were lots of streetlights and cars passing by, not so much the case later on leg three. I finished just barely under my target, at 9:44/mile and gladly handed off to Coker as we started to prepare for the night legs.

We broke up into two vans for the night running, allowing one van to drive ahead and try and get some sleep. TRY being the operative word. Outside of Chris (I don't know how he did it), I don't think anyone got more than maybe an hour total of sleep. We tried sleeping in the van, outside on the ground, in church pews...it didn't really matter. I guess our bodies were so jacked on GU energy shots and 5 hour energies that our minds couldn't shut down for a few.

As the night legs passed, the rah-rah attitude started to dwindle and we found ourselves just trying to get by. Around 2:00 am, I slowly gathered my things and tried to wake up for my final run. It was a shorter, 3.75 mile, run through the Francis Marion National Park at 5:00 am. It was cold, dark, and lonely as I started out. Thankfully, I knew the route and where to expect hills and turns. But there is something eerie about running in the middle of a forest....in the dark...by yourself. I think there was a slight bit of motivation there...pushing you to finish before a jungle cat attacks from the trees. I made it a point to not turn my head to the treeline, in fear of seeing a pair of eyes staring back at me. Surprisingly, I felt good during this run...banging out my 15th mile was almost easy as I noticed the light of the fire station parking lot in the distance. I charged up the final hill, passing the baton to Joe, realizing that I completed my goal of finishing every leg under a 9:45 pace. 9:35 for the last leg in fact. I quickly found my brother, who was sleeping...celebration would have to wait at this point. Especially since we still had 12 legs to go.

Well, alas, we've reached the home stretch. The sun was coming up and the dullness of night was in our rear view. Clark pounded out a beautiful long run to the Seewee Outpost, followed by Coker's mind numbing 4.5 miler down Hwy 17. He dropped below a  7:00 pace though, impressive after ~20 miles already run. The final runs began to dwindle, with Wofford braving out two of the final six legs, including basically running the Cooper River Bridge Run course plus the Battery to finish out his P200 journey. Nate stepped up and delivered a fantastic final leg to the James Island County Park, where we as a team waited for his arrival....beers in hand. We joined Nate in the final stretch, cleansing our bodies with fresh Yuengling, and crossing the finish line together knowing that we just destroyed our target pace for the race. It was almost surreal. Did we really just do this? Did we really just do it better than we thought we would? Did we actually finish in less than 30 hours? Yes to all the aforementioned.

I really couldn't be more proud to be a part of this team. The whole experience was amazing and we're all committed to do it again next year. We finished 21st out of 58 teams that completed the 200, not bad for a bunch of rag tag friends from college. Thanks to my brother and everyone who made his involvement possible. Feel free to visit www.palmetto200.com for more info on the race and be sure to check out www.lovemyballs.com for more information on our sponsor.

I'm sure some more will come out over the next few weeks, some different thoughts and all.